The Truth About Hybrid Cars and Oil Dependency

From the CEO of Nissan: "They make a nice story, but they're not a good business story yet because the value is lower than their costs," said Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn. He also poured cold water on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which many automakers see as the industry's next big technological breakthrough.
"The cost to build one fuel cell car is about $800,000. Do the math and you figure out that we will have to reduce the cost of that car by more than 95 percent in order to gain widespread marketplace acceptance."


From a Toyota Prius test drive: “On the highway, I frequently saw fuel mileage numbers in the 60s flash by. During my daily commute to work, which involved no highway driving at all and took me straight through the congested heart of mid-town Manhattan, I was averaging 30 miles to the gallon. By the standards of most cars, 30 mpg in city driving would be considered outstanding.
In this case, I wondered what I was doing wrong.

The key to winning the fuel mileage game, I quickly figured out, was trying to keep only one power plant at a time in operation as often as possible. It's not easy. Still, in my last cross-town drive, going as gently as I could without causing a road rage incident, the best I managed was an improvement to 35 mpg.”


From MSN Autos: “You see, the numbers aren't derived from real-world driving but from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emission testing procedures on brand new vehicles. The laboratory procedure is not reflective of on-road driving for a number of reasons. For one thing, the cars don't use gasoline in the testing. For another, the test procedure still assumes highway speed limits are 55 miles an hour.

But some owners of gas-electric hybrids, in particular, have voiced disappointment in the disparity between their mileage and that posted on their vehicle window stickers. These owners of Honda and Toyota hybrids have ready access to their real-world mileage via graphical displays on the dashboard, which tend to draw driver attention to fuel usage and mileage statistics more so than in conventional vehicles.

Consumer Reports magazine, which calculates its own fuel economy stats, noted that its Toyota Prius hybrid test car got 44 miles a gallon in real world driving, not the city/highway rating of 55 mpg that the government reports.
So, yes, while hybrid vehicles generally provide better mileage than like-sized vehicles in their class, a driver should be aware it would take more than just a gasoline-electric power train to get the fuel economy he thinks he has been promised.

Hybrids store electric energy on board in large battery packs. The packs are warranted for eight to ten years, depending on the manufacturer, but it's uncertain what the cost will be for replacing old battery packs down the road. Current prices are about $3,000. If this price holds in the future, it could make hybrids less attractive as used cars and thus reduce resale values of these vehicles.
Some emergency workers have been concerned that they could face a danger of electric shock when working on a disabled or crashed gas-electric hybrid vehicle. Some first responders are undergoing special training to become comfortable in handling hybrid cars.

Some groups have complained that hybrid battery packs are toxic and likely to become troublesome to dispose of.”
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The human economics: hybrid cars have issues that go far beyond saving gas, money, and the environment—like cabin size (where do I put the kids? What about my 6’2” husband and son? Where is the trunk on this thing?), servicing issues (out in the middle of the desert where there’s no Toyota or Honda dealers within 100 miles), and ROI (return on investment, or how long you’d have to own this thing before it start paying you back).

These cars, in their current form and technology, are nothing more than expensive “feel-good” items and poor substitutes for the real solution to MPG and gas prices: driving less. If you’re worried about oil dependency, don’t be—this country is currently #3 in the Oil Dependent list behind China and India, and is falling behind rapidly. Plastics production uses more oil than all our cars combined, and the solution to oil dependency is to use fewer plastics…and guess what those hybrid cars are made mostly of? Notice the hypocrisy yet?

Also take another look at solar panels and other so-called “energy-saving devices” that are also made of plastic/oil. When we use oil to produce these items, are we really saving energy? No—the marketing deck has been stacked in favor of public relations and product sales. We’re not supposed to notice the man behind the curtain in Oz.

Q: How can I end my dependency on _____________?
A: Just use less __________. (Fill in your own blanks according to what it is you’d like to save).